22-yr-old trend setter at Nagpur marathon

Every one of the participants in the wheelchair marathon left his handicap behind at the starting line. But some like Sanjay Motghare also left behind their wheelchairs, preferring to complete the distance from Kasturchand Park to Yashwant Stadium on their God-given limbs.

The 22-year-old Motghare was as animated during his Herculean effort as the animation films he dreams of making specially for disabled persons. Not one to preach from his wheelchair, Motghare has decided to show that the physically challenged too can compete with run of the mill human beings.

Notwithstanding the orthopaedic problem in one of his legs, Sanjay Motghare gave up his wheelchair vehicle to set the trends for others. “Though I wanted to finish first, I could not do it because I was not on my tricycle. But my bigger aim was to do something different from the rest, and encourage my friends,” said Motghare.

Hailing from an extremely poor family, Motghare earns his living by selling newspapers in the morning. His father passed away when he was just a kid and his mother is a housemaid. They live in a small hut in the Rambag slums.

However, this youngster is determination personified. He is presently studying BA from Dhanwate National College. “I am pursuing a diploma course in animation from an institute in our area. I cannot afford the high fees charged by reputed institutes, but I am collecting money for the advanced courses by doing multiple jobs,” he says.

Motghare has had orthopaedic problems in one of his legs since birth, leading to a stunted leg. “My disability could have been rectified, but my parents were extremely poor and illiterate, who couldn’t even afford two meals a day sometimes. There was no way they could have got the money required,” he says. But he has accepted what God gifted him, and has made up his mind to give his best with the available resources, physical as well as financial.

On why he chose to participate in the marathon, Motghare says he wanted to express solidarity with the fight against terror and show the world that Indian is united.

Not one to be disheartened on losing the first place, Motghare says it hardly matters. “I believe that slow and steady wins the race. Next year I will participate again and win the race,” he says.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Nagpur/22-yr-old_trend_setter_at_Nagp...